He was so small compared to his opponent, but he ended up heaving him backwards with a judo-like sotogake maneuver, and then pinning him with his tegatana. The wrestler should have been strong in ground techniques, but he couldn't get up. He tried various ways to escape, but Tohei had him firmly pinned.

It's a topic for a different thread, but I guess Tohei had been practicing a lot since his run in with Herman two years earlier.

Back squarely on topic, and equally interesting to the points that Chris and David highlighted:

Why did Tohei resort to a "judo-like" leg sweep in this encounter?

Nothing against leg sweeps, but why did Tohei not use one of the recognizable techniques of aikido, that I assume he learned from Morihei Ueshiba and had diligently trained in for around 20 years?

-Michael
"Through aiki we can feel the mind of the enemy who comes to attack and are thus able to respond immediately." - M. Mochizuki